The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Hero physio saved bus driver’s life ordeal: Man hails intervention when heart attack struck
A Fife bus driver has hailed the heroic actions of the football club physio that saved his life.
Stephen Smith was driving a coach of Dunfermline Athletic supporters back from Dumfries on Saturday evening when he felt the onset of a heart attack.
The 47-year-old managed to pull the vehicle over, where he was tended to by Pars physio Kenny Murray and another first aider, who had to use a defibrillator to treat his cardiac arrest.
Mr Smith, who lives just miles away from East End Park, returned home last night following spells in hospital in Clydebank and Kirkcaldy.
Recalling his ordeal, he said: “We had just set off and joined the A701 and I started to feel a pain in my chest.
“It went into my neck and then my jaw and that’s when I knew something wasn’t right.
“My vision started to blur and I pulled over.
“I can’t remember much, but the physio had an oxygen mask on me and told me to take it easy.
“He and another guy, Marc, were asking me if I had any holidays planned, and were just trying to keep me talking. “I owe them my life.” Mr Murray had been travelling on the players’ coach, which was just minutes behind the supporters bus driven by Mr Smith.
With assistance, he helped to stabilise the driver for around an hour before an ambulance could transport him to hospital in Clydebank.
Supporters on the stranded bus were then taken home on the players’ coach.
As he begins his recovery, Mr Smith said that he would like to be reunited with his lifesavers to show his appreciation.
“I am going to meet up with them,” he confirmed.
“I remember Kenny saying that we are all going to go for a pint together, so we’ll do that and I’ll definitely be buying.”
Saturday’s intervention is not the first lifesaving act performed by Mr Murray.
In September 2015 he helped Peterhead fan Val Pearson, 67, when he collapsed outside the Highland club’s Balmoor Stadium.
He used a defibrillator and performed CPR to bring Mr Pearson back to life.